The present invention relates to construction sets for children and for commercial and other uses as well, enabling the building of both two and three-dimensional structures of various dimensions and geometry, preferably using elements made of foam, plastic and the like to provide flexible and safe structures.
There have long been marketed a great many toy construction sets composed of pieces or elements which interconnect to build and or construct various frameworks. Many kinds of such sets are not safe for younger children and some are even difficult to use without adult supervision and/or aid. The construction sets on the market to date, moreover, are limited in the size or shapes of the constructions that can be made using the set. Some such construction sets have been made out of very dense and hard materials, which are not safe for users of all ages; and some that are safe, have relatively recently been formed of resiliently bendable foam plastic tubes or rods as of closed cell polyethylene or the like, connectable by square or rectangular foam connector blocks having tube or rod-receiving apertures or holes in opposite sidesxe2x80x94but still with limitations on construction size, shapes and usage.
The prior art includes patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,038 which has constructional toy pieces that are actually puzzle pieces. This toy set is more closely related to a three dimensional puzzle. These puzzle pieces connect by ridges that run along the edges of each puzzle piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,206 utilizes a fixed number of metal and/or plastic five sided and six sided building blocks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,530 uses ridges and grooves to provide parts that can pivot. U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,518 also uses building blocks as a means of constructing figures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,942 uses tubular PVC pipes as the framework for all structures. These PVC pipes interlock using connector pegs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,185 uses foldable building blocks that fold along long series of fold lines. The blocks have uniformly spaced slots where they connect. U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,239 is a small toy set that uses cubes with semicircular holes that connect to each other by the use of rods with ends that match up.
The present invention is primarily concerned with such safe sets using such foam-like materials, but with removing such prior limitations on sizes and shapes and adapting the sets to create not just two-dimensional structures but three-dimensional structures as wellxe2x80x94and with the resulting structures of greatly expanded functional usage such as, for example, as tent structures, play houses, and other functionally usable frameworks.
The present invention achieves these objectives through forming preferably foam-like connectors into geometric shapes that provide not just opposite rectangular box surface connection openings, but a plurality of closely spaced connection openings or regions spherically distributed all over the connector surface contour to receive multi-angular radially extending tubes or cylindrical or other rods inserted to extend divergingly therefrom at many different angles. With such novel foam connectors, moreover, vastly increased sizes and shapes of the frameworks can be constructed and in three-dimensional frameworks that children may climb upon with safety. The foam provides its own high joint friction that sets in once the rod or tube elements are interlocked in the connector opening or attachments, while still sliding in and out of the joints easily and hassle-free. This foam construction also allows the elements to be made on larger scales without decreasing the flexibility or durability of the elements. In addition, the foam is flexible enough to allow imperfect connection angles to be readily accommodated, and users can construct temporary or permanent structures which can be placed indoors or outdoors and in which children may play, such as, but not limited to, the before-mentioned play houses, tents, forts and doll houses and the like.
An object of this invention, accordingly, is to provide a new and improved construction set using novel geometry foam connector designs for flexible tubes and rods and that overcomes the limitations of prior art sets, above-described, and that is easy and safe to assemble and allows use by users of all ages, and without the requirement of adult assistance, and, further, that expands the construction even to relatively large-sized frameworks and to other functional uses as well.
Another object is to provide a novel flexible foam-like structure reconnectable to tube or rod structures and of expandable size and shape and of more general utility, as well, and particularly useful sets of such flexible and resilient foam like materials for assembly.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a construction set that is also an educational tool, illustrating the basic principles of geometry, basic physics and mathematics at work.
Other and further objects will be discussed hereinafter and are particularly delineated in connection with the appended claims.
In summary, the invention embraces a flexible-construction set comprising a plurality of tubes or rods inter-connectable by connector nodes and wherein the connector nodes are made of foam-like material and formed in a three-dimensional geometric shape such as to provide a surface contour of successive adjacent surface portions each containing an attachment element therein to provide a plurality of adjacent connection attachment elements spherically distributed over the connector node surface contour for receiving the tubes or rods to be attached thereto and to extend radially therefrom at predetermined desired angles of a corresponding plurality of angles radially diverging from the connector node.
The present invention in one important application is concerned with the building of various lightweight flexible architectural frameworks that can be safely made by users of all ages, using the parts and accessories of the set, including multi-sided geometric connectors with adjacent holes or connection regions on every face or spherical surface portion, and with the holes or connections at many orientations. Cloths or other drapes, may adorn the structures, held by clamps that fit snugly onto the rods to hold the cloth or covering in place, as hereinafter more fully described.
The rods, connectors and clamps are all best made of foam-like materials for these applications, being provided in a variety of themes and designs and colors. By combining the unique themes and colors in the sets or kits, the designer can continue to develop three-dimensional structures with limitless variations of frameworks, providing users of all ages and capabilities with the opportunity to enjoy this safe, durable and educational flexible-constructional set.
The foam construction set or kit of the invention may contain various parts with different colors, designs, and densities, and can be readily constructed as three-dimensional structures for use as a construction toy or as a decorative display or as a functional structure. With this kit, one may utilize the male-female interlocking connector system of the pieces to construct varied two and/or three dimensional structures in a plethora of forms, including, but not limited to, frameworks such as the before-mentioned tents, or play or doll houses, or igloos and forts, as a few illustrations. The elements of the kit may be solid or hollow with varied dimensions and geometry. Also included in the construction kit may be the before-mentioned cloths or coverings made of various materials and sizes that can be used to enhance the functional uses and appearance of the structures if so desired.
Preferred and best mode designs and structural configurations are hereinafter discussed in detail.